


i'll just have to change then

by garbage_can



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: #SorryNotSorry, Alternate Universe - High School, Kinda, M/M, What am I doing, annoying!tyler, but not really, characters are out of character, ehhh, i have no idea what to call this, josh hates tyler in the beginning, nerdy!josh, the better question is why are you reading this, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-08-27 08:45:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8395111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garbage_can/pseuds/garbage_can
Summary: Josh is a good, hard-working student in his senior year in high school.Tyler is a senior too, but a little less good or hard-working.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> alrighty so i don't expect anyone to read this crap (it's really poopy like seriously) but if you wanna read it go ahead man i ain't stopping ya
> 
> just a fun fact: this was actually inspired by real life events and people.. yes, it is a hell i have to go through

Josh looked at the pile of notebooks on his bed. Did he have them all? He went through the list in his head one more time. _Math, English, music, art…_ Yes. That was it. He was stuffing the books into his schoolbag, when his phone vibrated. One new text message from Tyler.

Josh sighed. He opened the text and read it.

_Tyler: heeey who r u sitting @ music w/??_

Josh could barely understand what it said. He frowned.

_Josh: ? are you asking me who i’m sitting with at music? no one… yet. why?_

He sent the text and almost immediately got a response.

_Tyler: yeye you with ur stupid grammar lol cool wanna sit wit me?_

Now, Josh didn’t really like this guy. He was noisy, annoying and never had his homework done. But Joshua Dun wasn’t a bad guy, so every time Tyler asked him if he could see his homework to “check if everything’s correct”, he just rolled his eyes and passed him the piece of paper. Josh was also known for being the smart kid and Tyler was known for being the cool kid… who had shitty grades. Tyler probably thought of Josh as a servant who has to help him no matter what and Josh usually did that. He helped everyone if he had time.

But he didn’t quite understand why Tyler would want to sit with him at music. It was like, the easiest class. Even Tyler was good at it.

_Josh:  uhh i guess.. why music tho?_

_Tyler: i dunno lol does it bother you? ..okay uh, english? art? depends on wht classes we have 2gether_

_Josh: i don’t care dude whatever_

_Tyler: aight_

 

And before Josh knew it, he was already standing in front of the ugly grey building he’ll have to enter almost every day for a whole year. A group of students were already in front of the building, divided in small groups. They were probably waiting to get assigned the lockers they would have access to this year. _It’s not like anyone uses those things…_ Josh thought, hurrying to join the students, his eyes scanning the area in search for his friends.

“Josh!” a familiar voice called. He recognized it immediately. Josh spun around, almost getting knocked down by the small person running into his arms. “Debby!” he chuckled.

“Mark! I found him!” she yelled and another guy joined them.

“Hey, dude,” Mark greeted him with a smile. “Hi, Mark!” Josh grinned.

“I missed you guys,” Josh tilted his head after Debby took a step back to give him some space.

“Yeah, we missed you too.”

“Oh, right. Debbs, are you still dating that guy… uh… what was his name again?” Josh scratched the back of his head.

“You mean Jason?”

“No, that other dude… um…”

“Sean?”

Josh shook his head. “Sp… Was it Spencer?”

“What?! Spencer Boldman? Ew… That was just a rumor. Gross. That’s like dating… Lucas Till, or… Tyler Joseph-”

“Nice to know you think of me that way.” Suddenly, a wild Tyler Joseph appeared.

Debby spun around, trying to find words. “I, uh… Well, I… um… No offense,” she chuckled awkwardly.

Tyler chuckled too. “Hey, none taken. I wouldn’t date you either… Hi, everyone.”

Everyone greeted him back, except for Josh, who was too deep in his thoughts to hear anything. Tyler cleared his throat. Gosh, why did it always had to be his way?

“Josh…?” Tyler said quietly

As soon as Josh heard his name, he quickly lowered his gaze from the sky to Tyler’s eyes. “Yeah?” he asked with wide eyes. “Nothing, it’s just polite to say hey when someone says hi,” he chuckled. _Would you stop chuckling and being fucking annoying for one fucking second and let the world live normally, please?!_

“Yeah, sorry… Hey,” Josh faked a smile and rolled his eyes as soon as Tyler’s attention was directed to someone else.

“Senior students, come closer, please!”

Soon the seniors were gathered around the teacher. She continued: “I will call each one of you and give you your new locker number and combination. Do not show that combination to anyone and don’t lose the paper. Switching lockers with someone else is forbidden.”

She started calling names in alphabetic order.

“Dun, Josh.”

Josh received a small piece of paper with some numbers scribbled on it. He didn’t care about them. He folded the paper and put it into his pocket, waiting for his friends. Soon Mark and Debby got their combinations too. They didn’t care about them either. No one did.

“Why are they even trying with these stupid lockers? Do they know nobody uses them?” Mark asked when they were walking down the hall to check what classes they had.

“Yeah, I know right…! Oh, damn it. Of course there are a lot of people around the billboard.”

“Relax, I’m pretty tall. I can check for you guys too,” Josh chuckled, silently praying they would be in the same classes.

He took his phone out and tried getting as close as possible to the board. He took a picture without even knowing what he was photographing. Josh sighed and stepped away. There was no way he’d come closer to the board, not with that many kids around it, squishing each other and eager to see the list.

He took a look at the photo he snapped.

“Hey, did you get anything?”

“Yeah… You guys both have P.E. and I have… art. Perfect.”

It’s not like Josh didn’t like art – he absolutely loved it, but he wanted to be with his friends.

“Ah, cheer up, bro. Maybe we have something else together, hm?” Mark side-hugged him.

“Well, it’s not like we could read anything from this thing,” he pointed at his phone, where the picture was still open. “It’s all blurry… But yeah, I’ll hope for the best.”

They said goodbye to each other and Josh made his way down the hall, to the art classroom. It was half empty, there were some kids sitting on the desks, talking to each other. Josh didn’t recognize any of them in particular.

Josh sat himself at the window in the last row. He pulled out his sketchbook and placed it on the table. Sighing, he stared out of the window.

“Aw, what’re you all sad about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this chapter is the poopiest of them all i'm sorry you had to read this


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy i had some time so take this if you wanna read it idk

_Noooooooo._

He turned his head, already being greeted by Tyler Joseph’s lame grin. “You don’t mind if I sit here, right? I mean, you did promise.”

That was true.

“Nah, go ahead.”

“What are the odds, right?”

“Yep. What are the fucking odds,” Josh said more to himself than anyone else, but Tyler still heard him.

He gasped sarcastically. “What? Did you just… cuss? Oh my… I…  I guess you’re not a good little boy anymore, huh?”

“What are you talking about? I curse all the time.”

Tyler opened his mouth to answer, but the door slammed opened and Mr. Masters entered the classroom. He closed the door behind him and walked to his desk. The whole class was as silent as resting rabbits. “Okay, guys… You should probably already know me, I’m Michael Masters, Mr. Masters for you, apparently,” he turned around after writing his name on the whiteboard. “Um… draw. Or whatever. Uh… you know what? I have to give you a grade out of _something_. Practice human anatomy and face structure. You’ll give me your sketchbooks for me to examine in three weeks. ”

Then he sat down and started staring at his phone.

No one knew how Mr. Masters became a teacher. But no one cared, as long as everyone was getting As.

Josh sank into his chair, sighing again. “Ah, the hard life of a straight A student,” Tyler grinned, bringing out his phone.

Josh rolled his eyes. “Are you familiar with the fact that nobody’s life is perfect?”

Tyler chuckled and shook his head, his eyes glued to the phone screen. “Nah, I’m pretty sure your life is low-key perfect. Look, you get good grades, you don’t have any family issues and you like school… I think.”

Josh opened his sketchbook on a blank page and sharpened his pencil. He wasn’t entirely sure if he should start drawing or do something else with the sharp object in his hands, like stab Tyler in the neck, for example. “Mhm… First of all, you get good grades if you listen in school, do your homework and study. Second, how do you know if I have family issues or not, again? And third… I’m sorry, but if you think I enjoy in this hell you’re just stupid. My life is not perfect and I’m pretty sure that neither is yours.”

Tyler didn’t reply – he just kept smiling into his screen. _Was he even listening to me?! I guess he’s texting his girlfriend or something…_ Josh shook his head to clear his thoughts and took a deep breath. He pressed his pencil against the smooth surface of the paper, only to gather he had no idea what to draw. He was supposed to practice ‘human anatomy and face structure’. He looked around, trying to find someone to reference the pose of. And then he realized that his reference was only 20 centimeters away from him, staring at his phone.

Josh smirked and rotated in his chair, so that his back was leaning against the window and he could get a good view of Tyler – who didn’t notice anything – and his profile.

40 minutes passed and the bell was about to ring. Josh looked at the sketchbook in his hand. Tyler’s pose barely changed in the said 40 minutes so he could sketch quite nicely. The final product was pretty good and Josh smirked at it proudly.

“What are you smirking at?” Tyler scoffed with a light smile still on his lips.

Josh chuckled and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said with a voice and closed his sketchbook.

“No, seriously. What is it? Did you draw a poop and named it Tyler, or something?”

“I said it was nothing.”

Josh packed his bag, ignoring Tyler who was staring at him suspiciously. “Alright,” he looked away, even though his voice wasn’t convinced.

When they were leaving the classroom, Tyler was standing somewhere behind Josh. He didn’t really care where the brat was. He was just happy to leave this class behind him. Suddenly, Josh heard a noise similar to a zipper closing or opening and he felt a slight pull at his schoolbag. He turned around and saw Tyler standing behind him with the most innocent look anyone could ever imagine on his face. Josh just raised one eyebrow, turned around and continued walking.

But in biology lesson he noticed he was missing something. The realization hit him like a truck. “That fucker stole my fucking sketchbook,” he grunted, digging his nails into the cold table surface.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writer's block or something idk  
> chapters like this one are easier to write so i figured why not y'know
> 
> also, i'm sorry if texts aren't readable, i only tried to recreate the ones i get from my fellow schoolmates

When the lunchtime came, Josh decided he was going to find that brat and beat him up. Okay, not beat him up, but he was definitely going to demand his sketchbook back.

Unfortunately, Josh didn’t find Tyler at lunch. Instead he was hit in the face with a pencil case. Some kids were passing it to each other in the diner and Josh just happened to be in the way of the flying object. He threw it back at one of the kids, but instead it flew over the guy’s head into someone else. And that someone else had a coffee mug in her hands. The mug fell on the floor and the girl, who was holding it just five seconds ago, was covered in dark hot liquid. Her scream was so loud that everyone in the dining room stopped to check if someone was dying.

Josh ran to the girl, picking up some paper towels on the way. Everyone was laughing, so he put a fake smile on his face. “I am… so, so, sorry,” he apologized and tried to fix the mess. He picked up the mug pieces and wiped the floor around the accident. The girl (who was wearing white, by the way) was completely paralyzed and didn’t even know what to do. Josh was pretty sure he just ruined someone’s clothes.

Josh thought the situation couldn’t get worse. He was wrong. “Uh… What’s happening here?”

As soon as he heard the voice, Josh paused for a moment. He looked up. And there he was. One of the stupidest people he knew was looking down to him. “Um… I uh…” Josh tried to answer, but somehow, he couldn’t find the words. Thankfully someone else explained. Tyler burst out laughing, holding his stomach and collapsing on the floor. Everyone else was smiling and laughing too (except for the girl who had might just gotten first degree burns all over her body).

After everything was cleaned up and the girl was allowed to go home, Tyler still couldn’t stop laughing. “And… And you just… you just threw-” He could barely even breathe.

Unlike Tyler, Josh didn’t smile for the rest of that day. After school was finished, he hurried home to cook in his own embarrassment.

But _of course_ he got a freaking text.

_Tyler: lololol i cant belive u friggin did that_

_Josh: yes i friggin did that now excuse me while i throw myself off a cliff_

_Tyler: wha? why? it was so funny lol everyone was laughing_

_Josh: yeah i’m pretty sure it wasn’t funny for the girl who got covered in hot coffee.._

_Tyler: jfc she’s fine_

_Josh: … oh btw did you take my fucking sketchbook?_

_Tyler: whaaa?? no idea what ur talking bout_

_Josh: mhm…_

_Tyler: btw ur rly good @ drawing lol_

_Josh: …_

_Tyler: no srsly liek i only checked the first 2 pages but jesus ur talented_

_Josh: thanks, but you dont have 2 look through the entire sketchbook, kay? and bring it to me tomorrow_

_Tyler: why not lol_

_Josh: privacy_

As much as Josh hated Tyler, he had to admit that talking to him was sometimes fun, maybe even relaxing.

_Tyler: oh whats for english hw_

Or not.

_Josh: … seriously? it’s the first day_

_Tyler: sry jesus_

_Josh: …_

_Josh: read the first 4 pages in the book and answer the questions at the end of the chapter_

_Tyler: k danke_

_Josh: im actually surprised that you know how to say that_

_Tyler: hey_

_Tyler: i take german_

_Josh: yeah but youre not good at it lol_

_Josh: anyway gotta go now see ya_

_Tyler: no wait_

_Josh: ?_

_Tyler: chemistry hw?_

_Josh: neither of us had chemistry today_

_Josh: youre drunk go home_

_Tyler: but ur sitting right next to me..?_

_Tyler: oh wait nvm_

_Josh: youre such a weirdo_

_Tyler: ah yes keep talking dirty to me_

_Josh: …bye_

_Tyler: auf wiedersehen_

Josh knew he had that homework to do, but he got another text and just couldn’t help himself not to look at it.

_Debby: hiya friend_

_Josh: helloo_

_Debby: how are uuu_

_Josh: eh_

_Debby: haha same_

_Josh: what are u doing_

_Debby: talking to a certain tyler lol_

_Josh: ahh i was too like 2 mins ago_

_Debby: he's asking me about hw again help meh_

_Josh: srsly?_

_Josh: he was asking me too_

_Josh: jesus does he annoy evryone he knows?_

_Debby: i guess_

_Josh: and the worst part is that he wouldnt have to_

_Josh: if he just paid attention in class_

_Josh: but nooo he has to be on his phone all th time_

_Debby: chill lol everyones on their phone during class_

_Josh: yeah but at least they try to hide it_

_Debby: why do u care_

_Josh: ... i cant rant anymore or smthng?_

_Debby: nah u can do whatevr u want fam_

_Debby: just seems to me that ur talking a lot about tyty lately_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

_Josh: gosh that face haunts my nightmares_

_Josh: and did u seriously just call him tyty_

_Debby: yeaaah didnt u know we're bffs now_

_Josh: oh lol okay then_

_Josh: enjoy ur frenship i guess_

_Debby: awee ur jealous_

_Josh: im not?_

_Debby:_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

_Josh: come on_

_Debby: ok byeee_

_Josh: have fun with ur bff_

_Debby: lol thanks_

_Josh: yup byebye_

Josh put down his phone and sighed. He picked up his schoolbag, fishing out the books he needed to do his homework. It was pretty late already and he wanted to go to bed as early as possible (yeah like that was gonna happen...).

He skipped dinner and went straight to bed after finishing his homework. He closed his eyes and after a few minutes (which seemed like never-ending hours) his mind was already someplace else. He could feel his conscious drifting away… when his phone vibrated. A text, probably. Josh grunted, opening his eyes quickly and picking up his phone.

_Tyler: …_

_Josh: ?_

_Josh: dude let me sleep_

He didn’t get a response for a while, but he figured that since he was already on his phone, he should check his social media too. Nothing new, though.

_Tyler: i uh… can i call u myb?_

_Josh: everything ok?_

Tyler didn’t answer, but instead Josh got an incoming call from him. He answered it.

“Yeah?”

“Uh… hi.”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine…”

“Tyler?”

Tyler’s voice sounded dull and lost but when Josh said his name, he somehow snapped out of it.

“Yeah, uh, no. I mean, don’t worry, nothing’s wrong,” he let out a weak laugh.

Josh put his hand on his forehead and sank into his bed, covering himself with the thick sheets again.

“Um… Then why are you calling me?”

“Actually, I just wanted to say that your art is… beautiful.”

“Yes, you said that already.”

“No, I mean… I looked through the entire sketchbook and I… I can’t believe you drew… me. Like, I feel so honored and um… Thanks? Like, I… I don’t even know what to say… really…”

“Um, calm down,” Josh chuckled. “It’s not a big deal, seriously. Masters just said we should practice people or something and you were right next to me so I decided to draw you. Look, it’s getting late and I’d like to keep a normal sleeping schedule for at least a week. So, I gotta go, but… talk to you tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, okay. I’m sorry. Good night, Josh.”

“Night.”

Josh hung up and placed his phone back on its original place. He panicked when the corners of his eyes caught big bright numbers. 12.04. He had to get up at six o'clock, so... he wasn't getting any sleep that night, right? He threw himslef on the bed again, taking a deep breath and concentrating on relaxing. Slowly his eyelids became heavy again and soon he was already snoring quietly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ehhh
> 
> hope you enjoy this exuse for writinnggg

The next day Josh felt like he didn’t sleep the entire night. He blamed the cunt that called him so late at night. When he got up and dressed himself it was still dark outside. He didn’t feel like turning on the lights and had no idea he picked one of his old t-shirts.

Unfortunately, he noticed his strange tee when he was already in school.

“Nice shirt,” Mark could barely hold back the laughter as they were walking to the history classroom together.

“Shut up,” Josh forced a grin. He could feel his face getting hotter and hotter as he noticed quite a lot of people giving him judging looks in the hallway.

“Don’t you at least have like… a jacket or something?” Mark tried to help his friend, but all for nothing.

“Yeah, I have a _winter_ jacket. I’ll be a boiled egg by the end of the day if I wear it inside.”

There would be nothing wrong with his t-shirt if it wasn’t… rainbow colored. Josh guessed that it was probably ‘homosexual flag or something, I don’t know’. He didn’t even know why he owned this t-shirt, but it has always been right there, in his closet. Its colors were blinding bright and neon-ish so the tee really stood out.

Josh got a few comments like “What are you, a faggot now, Dun?” or “Ha! Gayyy!”, etc. He didn’t really care, since kids have always been and always will be jerks, but it was still very uncomfortable.

When Mark and Josh arrived to the history classroom, they took their seats quietly. Mark still couldn’t stop giggling, though. Josh shot him a ‘oh my god can you not like I will kill you with my bare hands’ glance and silenced his friend. Then he suddenly heard another laugh behind him. _Great._

“Oh, my… um, nice t-shirt, Josh… Jesus, why do you even own this?”

Josh turned in his seat to see no one else but Tyler fucking Joseph. “Problem?” he asked. He was so done with this twat’s shit.

Tyler didn’t answer for a few moments, waiting for himself to stop laughing. “I… okay, I think I’ve decided something. I’ll… Hm, ‘look after you’ isn’t really the term I’m searching for. More like, ‘take care of you and your clothing because damn’,” he finished and stared into Josh’s eyes, waiting for a reply.

But Josh had no idea how to respond to that. He just chuckled lightly and awkwardly, lowering his gaze and then looking at Tyler again when he spoke. “Uh, thanks? I don’t know.” He wanted to mentally beat himself up for being so socially awkward. Thankfully, he was saved by the loud and annoying bell that made Tyler walk away to his seat.

The lecture was boring, as always. Actually, the entire day was boring (as always). That is, until the last period – chemistry. Josh was excited for chemistry, because he had that class with both of his friends, Debby and Mark. Unfortunately, Tyler was in that class too (apparently he had a lot of classes with Josh), but Josh decided that wasn’t going to bother him, since he didn’t plan to sit with him or anything.

Every desk was made for three people – perfection for Josh, Debby and Mark. They sat together every year and always had a lot of fun. Their seats were in the back corner, where they could talk endlessly and the teacher – who was half deaf – didn’t hear anything.

“Alright. Hello, class. Welcome to your senior year on our school. Let’s cut straight to the point. You'll have to do a paper on the things we learned about last year. You’ll just have to summon up the main lessons. Let’s say the seminar has to be… roughly 3.000 words, no biggie. You’ll work in groups consisted of two students. Everything clear?” the teacher said as soon as she entered the classroom. She talked so fast that the class couldn’t even take notes. Fortunately, she wrote all the important information on the whiteboard.

“Guys, what are we gonna do?” Mark asked, a frown forming on his face.

Josh already knew where this was going. He was always the one that was let out and he was just so drained of any energy and just didn’t want to fight with his friends. “You guys can work together, I don’t mind,” he smiled.

“But who are you gonna work with?” Debby sighed worriedly.

Josh shrugged.

“Josh!”

Josh literally just wanted to kick the teacher in her face for putting two people on the job for the assignment. Because now there was a certain Tyler leaning on his desk and Josh was ready to die™.

“Wanna work on the thing with me?” Tyler grinned, showing two rows of slightly crooked (but still pretty) teeth.

“Alright,” Josh, being the nice guy he is, answered. “But only if you carry your weight.”

Tyler’s face lit up. “Scout’s honor,” he said with a serious tone and held up three fingers. Josh just sighed and rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms on the desk and let his head rest on them. “I’ll text you,” he yawned. “Not if I text you first,” Tyler winked and turned around. Josh had no idea what that meant but he couldn’t care less. He just wanted to sleep.

“Ah… I feel bad for you bro,” Mark patted Josh’s back sympathetically. Debby hummed in agreement.

“I had to work with Tyler once on a history project and I literally did everything. Like, I’d ask if he wants to meet up and he was always ‘busy’. Then, when he finally found time to work on the project, all he did was paste the pictures. And they weren’t even related to the topic we were working on! In the end, he got an A and I got a B+ because I wasn’t ‘confident enough’ during the presentation. So, good luck,” said Debby quietly.

“I don’t even give a shit. I'm used to doing everything when it comes to group projects. I just… I don’t care. Thanks for the concern and stuff, though,” Josh sighed.

“Are you okay? You seem tired.”

“Yes, that’s because I am. I received a pointless phone call from _someone_ yesterday. At _midnight_ , okay? And I slept horribly,” he nudged his head towards Tyler when he spoke about the phone call.

Mark and Debby exchanged looks. “So… He’s calling you in the middle of the night now?” Debby asked slowly.

“Yeah, that’s what I said, didn’t I? Plus, it was meaningless and stupid.”

When Josh came home that day, he just wanted to get into his bed and coma his way to the evening. But he, obviously, couldn’t do that. He had to help his mom do the dishes first (because their stupid useless dishwasher broke). When he finally got himself upstairs and he somehow managed to open the books and prepare for homework, he got a text. His concentration flew away and Josh wasn’t going to see it for a while. So he thought he should at least see who on earth would send him a text now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.k.a the one where josh doesn't get some sleep one night and acts like a spoiled princess about it the whole day :P

_Tyler: heyy we gotta start working on that chemistry thingy right?_

_Wait, what._ Wasn’t Tyler the slacker? Wasn’t he the one who fed off of the others’ work? At least that was a Tyler Joseph Josh knew. If he was always ‘busy’ when Debby wanted to work on the project, why the hell would he message Josh _the same day_ they got the assignment?

_Josh: who the hell are you and what have u done to tyler_

_Tyler: ha-haaa… youre not funny_

_Josh: oh but i am_

_Josh: anywayy yea we should start working on that just not today or anything_

_Tyler: oh_

_Tyler: i was gonna go to the library and see if they got any books on that_

_Josh: …_

_Josh: seriously_

_Josh: are you okay_

_Tyler: yes im fine?_

_Josh: you want to go to the library. to work on a project._ you _want to work on_ a project

_Tyler: yeah so_

_Josh: also, have your texts gotten more grammatically correct?_

_Tyler: … could u please just appreciate the positive change and stfu_

_Josh: nope_

_Josh: and youre free to go to the library if you want but i feel like i have to sleep for at least a couple of weeks so i dont think i’ll be any help_

_Tyler: oh yeah u dont have to come but itd be nice if u would_

_Tyler: you know.. so we could make a plan whos gonna do what and stuff?_

Even though Josh wanted to slap Tyler with a fish, he had to appreciate that the dude was at least trying to be useful. He didn’t want someone else to do his work for him, so he had no choice but to meet with Tyler at the library.

_Josh: aight fine i’ll go_

_Josh: 15min_

_Tyler: okie dokie_

After saying goodbye to his mom and grabbing his jacket, Josh was already on his way to the library. It was pretty cold outside, so he slid his hands into his pockets.

With a fast pace, Josh was soon in front of a small red-brick building with a big sign that read “Columbus Metropolitan Library”. He entered, immediately being hit by a wave of hot air. Sliding his jacket off, Josh realized he forgot to change. He still had that terrible looking t-shirt. He sighed, not even getting frustrated about it.

Josh looked around, trying to find the annoying face he knew just too well. He walked around for a while, when he finally found Tyler at a table in the corner behind a huge pile of books. As Tyler heard Josh’s footsteps approaching, his gaze shot up from his phone.

“Hey, Josh,” he grinned.

“Hi.”

“Um, I was just looking around and I found something about… uh, Charles’ law. Could be useful?” Tyler held up a pretty thick book, which was obviously not only about Charles’ law.

Josh couldn’t help but feel amused as he sat down at the table. “Tyler, that’s not what we did last year,” he chuckled. He could see Tyler’s cheeks slightly changing into a pinkish color.

“It’s not?”

“Nope. Don’t you remember anything? Matter? Atoms, compounds, molecules, substances, phases? … Periodic table, maybe?”

Tyler chuckled awkwardly. “Right. Yeah, of course I remember.”

Josh nodded and chuckled again. He took the book out of Tyler’s hands and placed it on the edge of the table. “We won’t need that right now.”

There was a short silence before Tyler spoke again. “You must think I’m real stupid, huh?” His eyes avoided Josh’s.

Josh didn’t know how to reply. He wanted to comfort him, but also didn’t want to say anything that wasn’t true. “Tyler, you’re not stupid. I actually hate it when people say that. There is no way I… Look, you just gotta work harder, do homework and study and your grades will definitely start going up, I assure you,” he tried catching Tyler’s gaze.

“Pfft, yeah right. You’re just saying that. But it doesn’t matter because now I’ve got you to work on this crap with me,” Tyler shot another grin. _Aaand we’re back to normal,_ Josh thought while he mentally face-palmed himself for thinking the little shit could actually change for the better. He rolled his eyes and got up.

“You roll your eyes a lot. Have you seen your brain yet?” Tyler chuckled while he got up too. Josh just sighed.

“Oh my god… Look, I’m really fucking sleepy. So let’s just find some books to see how much recourses we’ve got and then we can split up the work, okay? Let’s just get this over with as soon as possible,” he yawned again.

“Aye, aye, captain!”

They split up, Josh covering one half of the chemistry side of the library and Tyler the other half. Tyler was actually quite proud of himself, since he gathered a few pretty thick books that actually looked useful.

But he walked back to the table they agreed to meet at, he found Josh taking a nap by an open book, his head was resting on his hand, mouth slightly open. Tyler felt bad for calling him the night before.

He wasn’t entirely sure if he should wake him up. “I mean… I can’t just let him sleep in a library, right?” he murmured to himself.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to make that decision. When Tyler set his pile of books on the table, Josh’s eyes flew open. The noise probably woke him up.

“Oh, I, um, I’m sorry I woke you up,” Tyler tried to apologize.

“What, uh…” Josh took a second to acknowledge what was happening or where he even was. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. “Um, I… It’s fine I probably shouldn’t be sleeping here.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. What’d you get?”

“Here, look at this one…”

The books Tyler found were pretty good, but Josh figured it was time they headed home, since it was getting late and he still had homework to do. He promised Tyler he’d text him and they both went separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea what juniors learn in chemistry, i'm sorry


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowowow this was fast
> 
> and i guessed i kinda rushed this but i'm way to lazy to rewrite it.. :)

“Alright, class. That’s all for today. Wait for the bell to ring and then you’re dismissed.”

Pffft. No one waited for the bell. They all packed their schoolbags and ran to the diner. Lunch time.

After a long and boring 45 minutes of the professor going on and on about the ‘amazing variety of different crab shells’, Josh seriously wanted to shoot someone. But that would probably get him into some kind of trouble with the authority, so he decided on just a red bull instead.

And he was just standing there, enjoying his cold beverage, when suddenly something really hard and heavy hit him right in the face. Apparently, some stupid kids were throwing some guy’s school bag around (because I guess it's funny or something). And the guy must have been carrying freaking rocks, because… damn. The hit sent Josh on the floor and he didn’t even know where he was for a few seconds.

There were some people crouching around him, concerned looks on their faces and some of the ‘oh my god, are you okay’s. But because of the loud ringing in his ears Josh barely noticed any of that, just like he barely noticed a thin stream of red liquid pouring from his nose.

After a few more seconds he finally got aware of his surroundings and tried to sit up. In the sea of faces he recognized one he wasn’t really pleased to see.

“Josh? Are you okay? Jesus, what happened?” Tyler seemed concerned too. For the first time in his life, Josh had seen him actually being serious about something.

“I’m… I’m fine,” he brought his hand to his face and touched his upper lip. Blood.

“Okay, I’m not so sure about that. I’m gonna take you to the nurse. Alright? Josh, can you stand up?”

“What…?” The ringing still didn’t quite stop. “Of course I can stand up, don’t be ridiculous.”

Well, easier said than done. Josh felt the embarrassment beginning to pile up in his stomach when Tyler and one more student had to help him up. They walked him to the nurse’s office and sat him down on the bench. The other student left with a smile after Josh quietly thanked him, while Tyler was trying to explain the situation to the nurse. She began to examine Josh’s nose when the door slammed open.

“Josh?” Debby ran to him and hugged him tightly. “Jesus Christ, are you okay?!”

Josh just nodded, since he couldn’t speak because his best friend was literally squeezing the life out of him. He heard a silent “thank god” from her before another person appeared at the door.

“I’m sorry, I tried to stop her… Josh, you alright, man?” Mark entered the room and gently pulled Debby away from their best friend.

“I’m fine, thanks for worrying,” Josh smiled.

“Alright, people. There’s just too many… people here, okay? You two please return to your classrooms, the next lesson’s about to begin,” she pushed Debby and Mark out of the ambulance room. Then she turned to Tyler, “And you are going to tell me the rest of the story and help this mister back to his own classroom when I’m done with him.”

She crouched down to get on Josh’s eye level and wiped away the blood beneath his nose.

“Uh, there’s really not much to tell, I guess. I mean, I was just going up to him to talk about something and then suddenly a school bag flew into his face. I think some jocks were throwing it around or something. Um, Josh was on the floor for a while and his nose started bleeding. That was about it. Oh, and he couldn’t walk very well, I guess,” Tyler crossed his arms on his chest and described what happened to the nurse. She nodded.

“The bleeding stopped naturally and there’s nothing really wrong with you. I don’t think any bruises will appear, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just try not to apply any pressure on your nose for some time. You should really go back to class now, both of you,” she smiled. Tyler and Josh thanked her and left.

Josh could walk normally right now, but Tyler tried to stay as close to him as possible, just in case he suddenly collapsed on the ground or something. “So, what were you going to talk to me about?” Josh sighed, keeping his gaze on the floor.

“What?”

“You said you came to me to talk about something. What were you going to talk to me about?” Josh repeated the question, moving his eyes to meet Tyler's before he looked away.

“Oh, just… You know, the chemistry project.”

“You’re acting weird lately. We worked on that yesterday. We still have like... a week. Why are you so eager to finish it early?”

Tyler sighed. “I… I don’t know, but I thought you’d want to finish it as soon as possible too.”

“Well… I do. But why would you think that?”

“Because…” Tyler took a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry for making you do this.”

“Tyler, I have no freaking idea what you’re talking about.”

“I… I do this all the time. I know that you’re a nice human and you would never say ‘no’ if someone asked you for help, even if you don’t like the person. And I’m just saying that it’s okay. I know you hate me and I promise that after we finish this thing I won’t ever ask you for a favor again.”

Josh stopped walking. What? Wait, wasn’t this what he wanted? He always got annoyed when Tyler texted him about homework or asked him to take a picture of his notes. Didn’t he dream of the day he was finally going to be free of this responsibility? Well… yes. But now it was here and it seemed… wrong. That would probably mean Tyler would stop talking to him altogether. What would Josh… do with his life?

Tyler turned around, confusion in his eyes. He didn’t speak though.

“Tyler… I don’t hate you. Where did you get that idea from?”

“I-I don’t know but you always talk to your friends like I’m such a burden and I just… I guess I don’t want to be your burden anymore.”

Josh couldn’t help but smile. It was actually kind of adorable. “Ty, you’re not a burden. You’re my friend.” He continued walking again. Tyler’s face lit up and the corners of his lips curled upward.

“Did you just call me ‘Ty’?” he chuckled. Josh chuckled too.

“Maybe. Why? You got a problem with that?”

“Nope. But now I gotta come up with a cool nickname for you too.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find something.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after like 4 years of nagging tylet finally gets some affection.. yay! *throws confetti*
> 
> also, thanks for all the hits, kudos and comments <3  
> never thought anyone would read this but okay i guess xD


	7. Chapter 7

“Jish!”

“Jish?” Josh sighed. “I guess I’m really stuck with that, huh?”

A few days passed, Tyler had found a nickname for Josh and they were almost done with their chemistry assignment.

“Well… yeah!”

They were pressing on their game controllers like crazy and neither of them spoke again until Tyler jumped out of his chair, almost throwing the controller on the ground. “YES!” The victory screech was probably heard by everyone in Josh’s house.

“Well,” Josh sighed, “I guess you really are better than me in Super Smash Bros.”

“Pfft, I told you. I mean, there's no way your stupid frog - or whatever it is - could beat Samus,” Tyler grinned and sat back in his chair. “Wanna play another one?”

Josh would rather strip naked and dance hula in front of the principal than play another round with Tyler. “Nah, I’m tired of this,” he tried to hide his hate of losing.

“Alright,” Tyler shrugged and Josh turned the game off. “You know you can’t win ‘em all.”

“I’ll try to remember, thanks,” Josh’s sarcasm in his voice was bigger than the Pacific, but Tyler somehow still couldn’t detect it. “You’re welcome!” he smiled and Josh wanted to face-palm himself so hard.

Suddenly, there was a strong knock on Josh’s closed door. “Yeah?” he asked lazily and went to open the door.

He was welcomed by his mom’s big smile. She was holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies in her hands. “Hi, sweetie. I just baked some cookies and I’d thought maybe you guys would want some?”

She didn’t wait for the answer, but firmly pushed the plate into her son’s hands. He thanked her quickly and she was already gone.

“Um,” Josh closed the door and held the plate towards Tyler, who was now sitting on his bed. “Want some?”

He watched his friend’s eyes flash with lust. But before Tyler’s hand moved on its own and grabbed a cookie, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nah… I, uh, I shouldn’t… Trying to get fit and all that,” he said quietly. _Damn, the self-control, though,_ Josh thought. So he just shrugged and stuffed one in his face. And another one. And another one. And another one. Soon there were only a few left and Tyler hadn’t moved his eyes off of the plate the whole time.

Josh reached for another piece of happiness, disguised as brown dough with pieces of chocolate in it, when Tyler just couldn’t control himself anymore. “On second thought, maybe just one,” he reached his hand towards the plate quickly.

When they finished with the cookies, Tyler spread himself on Josh’s bed like a starfish, while the host had to satisfy with the floor. They were both tired and full.

“Thanks for letting me come by,” Tyler said quietly while focusing on the white ceiling.

What he said didn’t really make sense, since it was Josh who invited him in the first place. Josh remembered the short conversation they had in school that day.

_“Hey, Ty, I was wondering if you’d want to come by today after school to play some Super Smash Bros?”_

_“Hm… Melee?”_

_“Of course.”_

_“Then I’ll be there, 100%, count on me, buddy.”_

He chuckled at the memory and almost forgot to answer Tyler. “Mm, yeah, no problem. Thanks for coming. I am going to beat you next time, though,” he said quickly.

“The next time?” Tyler seemed surprised… or maybe confused, Josh couldn’t really tell. He felt blood rushing to his face. What it Tyler didn’t want to come again? Oh, god.

“Yeah, um… I mean you don’t have to come or anything, I was just wondering since we had a nice time- I mean, I had a nice time, I don’t know about you, of course, but if you want to come again, you know I, uh…” he talked fast and stuttered. What was happening? That wasn’t like Josh; that wasn’t like him at all. And why did he care so much about his awkwardness right now? He accepted it ages ago.

“Oh,” was all that Tyler said. The room was quiet and with each second Josh’s face got redder and redder.

“So…” Tyler started carefully. “Wait, are you saying I can come again?”

Now Josh couldn’t help himself but laugh out loud. He was laughing so hard, he could barely breathe. Somehow he was able to choke out some words. “Yes… that- that’s exactly what… I’m… saying.”

Then Tyler joined in with the laughter too. They didn’t even know what was so funny, but something just was. When they finally stopped snickering, they both just tried to recover from the hilariously tiring ab work-out. But the heavy breathing eventually stopped and silence ruled the room again.

“Hey, do you… Do you ever think about the future? You know, after all this?” Tyler spoke again. The smile was wiped off his face and he was serious. Josh stared at the ceiling, thinking about the answer for a moment.

“You mean, after high school? I mean… I guess. Like, I’ve never thought about what college I’d like to go to, because I always thought I had enough time for that. But now… we’re seniors, man. I guess it’s time to start considering the future,” Josh sighed. “Maybe something with music?”

Tyler shifted on the bed slightly. “Oh, right. Your drumming thingy.”

“Yeah, my drumming thingy,” Josh chuckled and looked at the drum set in the corner of his room. He could only play when nobody was at home, since his room wasn’t soundproof. But even though he played so rarely, he loved drumming. It just sparked something deep in him, something, that nothing else he knew of could spark. “What about you?”

Tyler shrugged. Josh didn’t really expect him to be the guy that has everything figured out. A few years ago he would hesitate if someone was to ask him if Tyler will even graduate.

“I don’t know… Construction worker?” He laughed weakly. “Even though music doesn’t sound bad either.”

“Wait, you play something?” Josh tried to search his memory for a sign that Tyler had any music knowledge whatsoever. He never raised his hand in music class when the professor asked if any students were musicians.

“Yeah, the violin, for example,” he chuckled lightly. “It’s funny, because I don’t even know anymore why I know how to play it. When I was a young kid I loved the sound of it. I worshipped it, I guess. I begged my parents to sign me to violin lessons. But when they finally did, it was too late. I fell in love with another instrument. The piano. I…” Tyler took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.

“I watched thousands and thousands piano performances and still didn’t get tired of the sound. In fact, I loved it even more. But the sad part is that I was actually quite good at violin. Well, while my love for the piano grew, I struggled more and more with the strings, they became impractical and annoying. I tried convincing my parents to let me drop out of the violin classes and sign up for the piano. They allowed me to stop the violin, but said they wouldn’t pay for another thing that I would give up on after a while. So I tried teaching myself with online lessons or just by listening to people play it. I downloaded a piano app on my phone and I tried practicing on there. Gosh, I felt so guilty because violins aren’t really the cheapest instrument you’d find. They cost around $200 and we were already struggling financially-… Oh, god, I’m sorry, I’m probably boring you, right?”

Josh got so used to Tyler’s voice talking he was kind of startled when it stopped. He cleared his throat. “No, no. I’m actually glad you told me. I’d never take you for a guy who likes instruments like violin or piano,” he chuckled. Tyler chuckled too.

“Well, it was a long time ago. When I got into high school I got busy and somehow forgot about it all.”

Josh smiled and turned his attention back to the ceiling.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just wanted to say something
> 
> thank you for reading this and commenting and all that  
> seriously, it warms my heart
> 
> ((i probably won't be responding to any comments because knowing me i'd just make everything awkward and super uncomfortable...))

“Look, Josh, all we’re saying is… You never have time for us. We wanted to go to that new ice-skating place, remember? And now you’re saying you can’t?”

Josh shot Debby and Mark a quick glance before concentrating on the piece of paper in front of him again. He sighed. “I’m sorry, but I’m busy. I can’t go. I mean, you two can go without me.”

“Yeah, but it won’t be the same…” Debby murmured and turned away, deciding that the conversation was over.

Josh wasn’t mad at his friends, far from it. He was mad at himself. And school. He was mad at himself and school. It was December and their professors somehow managed to stuff all of the exams in three weeks. Josh had no idea how Debby and Mark succeeded to hang out with friends, get enough sleep and not completely drown in studying and homework.

The bell rang and since it was the last period, Josh didn’t rush on his way towards the exit. Instead, he stopped on the top of the staircase, waiting. After a few minutes, a familiar face appeared from around the corner.

“Oh, hey, Josh!” Tyler waved and jogged towards his friend. “What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t like staying in school after the day ended.”

Josh chuckled softly and nodded. “Well, that’s true. But since I have a surprise for someone today, I decided it was worth to stay a little longer.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow. “A surprise? For who? I though Mark and Debby already left.”

“Yup.”

Suddenly Josh grabbed Tyler’s hand and pulled him back to the hallway. He ran to the music classroom and shut the door behind him, dragging Tyler behind him. “Wait! Jesus, Jish, what’s going on?”

Tyler took a moment to catch his breath before looking around and realizing where they were. He got even more confused. “Why are we in the music classroom…?”

Josh walked to the corner of the room, which was occupied by a small black piano. He tapped on it with his fingers and tried his best not to snicker. “You coming or not?”

When Tyler finally figured out what Josh was asking of him, he took a step back and raised his hands in defense.

“Uh, look, I appreciate the effort, but I-I can’t… and I’m sure someone will find us and we could get in trouble s-so we better get going, o-okay?”

“Nah, come on,” Josh walked back to the door, where his friend was standing. He gently took Tyler’s hand and led him to the piano. Tyler sat on the piano bench without words and placed his hands on the white keys, taking a deep breath. Josh leaned on the wall, prepared to stay there for hours if he had to.

When Tyler started playing, he was a bit awkward at first; he kept making mistakes and messing up the melody. But Josh was patient and Tyler got the hang of it pretty soon. He played a couple of songs he remembered from the top of his head.

Then he stopped, hesitating. He turned his head towards Josh, who was waiting for him to start playing again.

“Wanna learn how to play the piano?” Tyler asked, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Josh opened his mouth, to politely decline the offer, but he was already pulled down on the bench, next to Tyler.

“Alright, see this key here? This is the G note.”

Josh knew he should be looking at the piano keyboard but he somehow couldn’t take his eyes off of Tyler’s face. His profile was somehow stunning and Josh realized he never noticed how cute the curve of his nose was. He figured Tyler’s profile might me his favourite thing in the world.

“Well?”

Crap. Tyler was looking at him. What was he saying? “Um… yeah…?”

“You’ve played the piano before? It should be easy for you, then,” Tyler smiled.

“What? No! No, no, I mean, I haven’t played the piano before, sorry,” he panicked. Shit, he should probably be listening.

“Josh were you even listening to me?” Tyler chuckled and looked into his eyes again. Damn.

“Um… I might have drifted away.”

Tyler sighed. “Alright. What I’ve been saying is that this is the G note.” He pressed a key.

Josh nodded and pressed another key. “So this is C?”

“Yeah, that’s C.”

He pressed down a couple of keys, murmuring something under his breath. “G, F sharp, B, E, D, G, C, B, E, A, D.”

“Try repeating that.”

Josh tried his best to remember which keys Tyler pressed, but he missed a couple. “Oh, shit. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, lol. Try again.”

Josh played a couple of melodies, some he got right, some he didn’t. He would probably get them all perfectly, if it wasn’t for Tyler, who was sitting so dangerously close to him. After the first few notes he got aware of their arms, sides and legs touching and blood rushed to his cheeks.

Soon Josh got tired of struggling with playing the stupid instrument so he decided to close the lid that covered the piano keyboard and just listened Tyler talk on and on about how he got into music. Actually, he wasn’t even really listening – he just observed Tyler and his facial expressions. He studied his movements, the way he blushed when he was nervous, or the way he waved his arms around when he was explaining something.

“Are you okay?”

Josh didn’t even notice Tyler had stopped talking. “Uh, yeah, yeah… fine,” he smiled. Tyler mimicked the smile. “So… how’d you do it?”

“Huh?”

“Well, we’ve been here for over an hour…”

_Really? Seemed like minutes._

“… and no one has noticed us. Not even Mrs. Campbell, which is weird, because she always goes to the vending machine to get a cup of coffee when she’s done with teaching and then comes back for her stuff. And today she was gone as soon as she finished.”

_Huh. Funny, he noticed._

“Well,” Josh smirked. “My… _charms_ helped me get the classroom after the end of the last period. I also arranged that janitor tells us when he’s going to be finishing up.”

“Wait… so you did… _all that_ , just so you could get me an hour on the piano?”

_Well, glad you’re impressed._

“Yeah, I guess.”

Tyler was left speechless.

_Gosh, his eyes are huge… Fuck._

“But… why?”

_Yeah, Josh. Why? Fucking shit… You like him, don’t you._

Josh’s hand found its way to the back of Tyler’s neck and slid up, into his hair. He slowly leaned closer. Josh’s heart was racing so fast, he thought it would jump out of his chest. He closed his eyes as he tried to settle his breathing. They were so close, less than an inch apart…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you get a cookie if you recognized the notes


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is anybody still prepared to read this crap?  
> ... i dunno.
> 
> okay  
> to people who are willing to read:  
> i'm sorry about not posting this chapter sooner, but i struggled with it quite a lot. i had to rewrite it like a bazillion times because i a) didn't like it or b) foRgoT tO saVE (gosh darn it)
> 
> i have also been going through some personal issues. my close friend passed away not long ago and i think that the negative change in my mood can also be seen in this chapter (i do realize that it doesn't fit the mood that i had set for this story but this whole thing is a mess so... meh)
> 
> and i'm sorry for the length of this chapter (and probably many, MANY mistakes & typos) but i'm in a hurry sooo  
> .  
> .  
> bye

“Ouch!”

“Oh, god.”

Both – Tyler and Josh – held their hand on their forehead. It didn’t hurt that much, but it seemed like an appropriate thing to do in that kind of situation.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler said quietly, his voice trembling from embarrassment.

“Nah, it’s fine, dude,” Josh responded quickly, standing up. _Maybe it’s better that we didn’t do it._

Without any more words, they left the classroom, light smiles on their blushing faces. They just stepped out of the school’s main door, when Tyler turned to Josh.

“So… the moral of this day: tilt your head when you’re going in for a kiss, because, you know… foreheads… are a thing,” he chuckled. Josh just forced a half-smile before they said their goodbyes.

Josh was home soon and fortunately there wasn’t anyone else there. He had the whole house for himself for a couple hours. But the bad thing about being home alone was that it gave him time to think. It gave his anxiety an opportunity to take over his mind for a while.

His hands were shaking and he couldn’t stop them. It was like he had no control of his body. The only thing on his mind was what he just tried to do with Tyler. It was all happening so fast. He was going to ruin their friendship- No. Josh couldn’t let that happen. Trying to kiss was a horrible idea and he knew it. Tempting, but horrible.

Josh usually didn’t like talking about his emotions too much, but in that moment what he usually did wasn’t important. He _had_ to talk to someone. He needed someone to tell him that everything was going to be okay, that he hasn’t ruined everything yet.

His cold hands were still shaking when he grabbed his phone and searched for a number, person – anything. Debby. The first name in his contacts list.

She picked up insanely fast; obviously she was already on her phone when he called her. With a shaky voice Josh asked her to come and she promised she’s going to be there immediately. His eyes began to water as he hung up the phone.

Josh didn’t know how much time has passed. He didn’t want to know. He sat in the middle of the carpet in the living room, curled up, with his knees pressed up against his chest. The loud doorbell made him jump and he rushed to the door, wiping the dry tears off of his face.

Debby was going crazy with the bell while Mark just stood there, playing with his fingers anxiously. Josh opened the door and Debby almost knocked him down when she jumped into a hug.

“Are you okay? What happened?! We thought you were getting kidnapped or something!”

“Actually, I wasn’t stupid enough to think you were kidnapped.”

Josh chuckled and invited them in. “I’m… not fine,” he sighed.

“Yeah, we kinda get that. What happened?” Mark took his shoes and coat off and sat on the sofa.

Josh sat on his previous spot in the middle of the fluffy carpet. Debby sat down next to him, crossing her legs. Josh didn’t know where to start. He didn’t even know if his friends were mad at him for being a jerk lately. “Okay. First of all, I’m really sorry. For everything. I promise I’ll try to find more time for you guys. I-if you want me to, of course.”

Debby hugged him again and they both promised him that they forgive him and they’re going to hang out more and blah blah blah.

Josh took a deep breath. “Y-you guys probably know that I-I’ve been hanging out with Tyler a lot… lately. And I kinda did this thing…”

“Did you finally confess your undying love for him?” Mark grinned and tilted his head.

Debby shot him a ‘shut up’ look and he raised his hands in defense.

“I-I… What…?”

“Honey, we knew for a while now. I can’t say that I’m super excited with you having a crush on the one of the worst guys on our planet, but… alright,” Debby sighed.

“Look, I did try to kiss him, but-”

“WHAT?!”

Debby almost deafened Josh with her (majestic) screech, while Mark was choking on air.

“Nothing happened! Okay?” Josh gave them a minute to calm down before he continued. “I _tried_ to kiss him, but our foreheads… bumped. And this is the reason I called you guys. I need help, I… I don’t know what to do. I think I kinda like Tyler, but I also don’t want to ruin our friendship. Did I mess it up with the kiss thing? Will it be awkward now? Please help me.”


End file.
